Renaissance Group LLC Has $32.36 Million Stake in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Renaissance Group LLC trimmed its Moody’s stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, but still held 63,345 shares valued at about $32.36 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Moody’s, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $544.29, even as several firms recently adjusted their targets slightly lower or higher.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $4.33 per share and revenue growth of 8.1% year over year, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Renaissance Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,345 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,768 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $32,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 363 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in Moody's by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Moody's by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,899 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Barclays cut their target price on Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $565.00 price target on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody's from $600.00 to $560.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $544.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total value of $71,679.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MCO opened at $450.90 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $448.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $469.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.35. Moody's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $402.28 and a fifty-two week high of $546.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 31.69%.The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 29.53%.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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